


The Mask of Mirage

by OhMyViolet



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: 31 Days of Apex (Apex Legends), Self-Esteem Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:48:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25126498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhMyViolet/pseuds/OhMyViolet
Summary: 31 days of Apex - Day 7 - Mask
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	The Mask of Mirage

**Author's Note:**

> I know I said I wasn't participating in this but I saw an opportunity to get inside Mirage's head and as usual, I'm gonna take it.

"How do I know I'm not the decoy?"   
A joke.   
That's all it was. A joke. That's all it ever was with him. And yet, there was always that existential uncertainty that lingered over his head; who was he really?   
So, he told jokes to make it not seem so bad. Everyone needed a fallback. That was a good thing. That was...normal. Right?  
Did everyone else feel this way too? That sense of doubt. That feeling of suddenly being in your thirties, and somehow feeling more lost with every year that went by. Was it cruel of him to hope that they did? He doubted he could ever feel such malice towards the people of the Outlands. Was it weird to have a soft spot for people he'd never met? He thought they'd all suffered enough, and if he could bring a smile to their faces, ignoring his own internal suffering would be worth it, right? 

He splashed water onto his face, washing away the toil of the day. He patted at his skin with a soft towel, as he looked up to meet his reflection's gaze in the mirror.   
There he was. Elliott...Elliot...Eliot...the press messed it up so often, he was beginning to doubt if he could even spell his own name anymore. But they didn't care about him. Not really. They didn't care what he liked to do on a Friday night, what his favourite song was, his favourite colour. No. They cared about Mirage. Ironic really. They cared about what they wanted to see, even if it wasn't real, and what they wanted to see was perfection. At least that's what he'd been telling himself all these years. 

His brown eyes scanned over his freshly washed features, to begin his nightly ritual of nitpicking. His hair was a little frizzy but that could be fixed with the right products. His lips were pretty chapped but that could be rectified with some chapstick. The dark circles under his eyes from not sleeping well the previous few nights, were more noticeable than he'd like, but some concealer would sort that out. Now for the hard part: that frown.   
He exhaled deeply, and forced himself to smile. No, that wasn't right. Too much teeth. Why was his top lip so weird looking? Whatever. Come on Elliott, pull yourself together. He shook himself off and tried again, keeping his lips together this time. That's better. That's what they wanted to see, even if it didn't quite meet his eyes. They probably wouldn't even notice. He tried his best to ignore that fact, as he got on with the rest of his routine.

He could keep the mask of Mirage on for now. It felt like the right thing to do; even if it might end up suffocating him eventually. 


End file.
